Machine for vacuumizing containers



Sept 2, 1930.

J. E. SHARP MACHINE FOR VACUUMIZING CONTAINERS Filed March 21,- 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 1 70 if 7/ 79 6 g 57 77 I 76 B H .H'

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Sept. 2, 1930.

J. E. SHARP 1,774,529

MACHINE FOR VACUUMIZING CONTAINERS Filed March 21, 1928 4 Sheets-SheetFi 1a i I I l (".I {"H i H l H i 5! a 4' I "I LIL- 3: INVENTOR i fit. 27M Sept. 2, 1930.

J. E. SHARP MACHINE FOR VACUUMIZING CONTAINERS Filed March 21, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet J. E. SHARP Sept. 2, 1930 MACHINE FOR VACUUMIZINGCONTAINERS Fil'ed March 21, 192

4 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- J'OHN E. SHARP, OFNEW KENSING-TON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA,01 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE FORVACUUMIZING CONTAINERS Application filed March 21, 1928. Serial No.263,279.

The invention relates to evacuating machines of the type in whichcontainers are moved by a rotary drum into and through a vacuum chamberformed in part by the drum.

An object is to improve the construction and consequent operation ofmachines of this type to the end that a constant and high vacuum may bemaintained between a drum and its casing without subjecting these partsto detrimental wear.

Another object is to provide a rotary vacuumizing drumwhich iscontinuous in its action without being subject to shock and vibrationincident to the introduction of containers into, or their discharge fromthe drum, and in which chattering and consequent breakage of the drumcasing is eliminated.

According to this invention a drum provided with container-receivingpockets open at the periphery of the drum is partially enclosed in acasing, which, with the walls of the drum pockets, form evacuatingchambers. To facilitate the formation'and maintenance of these chambers,the casing is preferably formed of segments'mounted for movementsradially ofthe drum. Also, to eliminate wear between the drum andcasing, the bearing contact between the two is preferably confined totheir upper and lower portions, the drum preferably being provided withwearresisting bearing rings, and the casing with rollers mounted foradjustment to properly contact with the rings. While some of thefeatures of the invention are applicable to machines in which. seals arecompletely formed in'vacuum chambers, others have to do, with machinesin which the containers are merely evacuated, the caps beingsubsequently mechanically fasteuedto the containers. The inventiontherefore includes the provision of simple and effective means forproperly positioning and holding looselyapplied caps firmly upon themouths of containers while they are being removed from the vacuumchambers.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings,

in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a container evacuatingmachine'constructed in accordance with the invention, showing the rotarydrum, casing and cap positioning mechanism; Fig. 2 a sectional viewtaken on line IIII of Fig. 1, showing also a plan view of the means usedfor feeding containers to and conveying them from the drum; Figs. 3 and4 sectional views taken, respectively, on the lines- IIIIII and IVIV,Fig. 1; Fig. 5 an elevation of one of the easing members looking in thedirection of the arrows on line V V, Fig. '2; Fig. 6 a sectional view ofthe casing taken on line VIVI, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 an enlarged horizontalsectional View through the joint between two casing members; Fig. 8 a.vertical section through a casing roller, taken on line VIIIVIII, Fig.2; Fig.9 a plan View of the roller shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 8.development of-the cam which operates a cap positioning mechanism, andFig. 11 a plan view of a portion of'the container ejecting mechanism'.

Referring to the drawin s, a drum 1 is mounted for rotation aroun avertical shaft 2, Fig. 1, secured to a housing or frame 3. Drivingmechanism for the drum, and other parts of the machine presently to beexplained, comprises a motor 5 (Figs. 3 and 4) having its armature shaft6 connected through a coupling 7 and clutch 8 to a reduction gearing ina casing 8 including a low-speed shaft 10 vertically disposed insuitable bearings 11. The clutch and reduction g'earing form no part ofthis invention,

and their forms are so diverse and so well known that no detaildescription of them is included. A pinion 12 attached to shaft 10 I 15.Another sprocket wheel 22 mounted on shaft- 18 drives through a sprocketchain 25, a sprocket 23 keyed to a shaft 24.

Attached to shafts 18 and 19, at a height such that their arms willenter the lower portions of container receiving pockets formed in drum1, are star wheels 26 and 27, Fig. 2, whose rotation is coordinated withthat of the drum to permit successive arms to enter and-leave thepockets successively without interference with the rotation of the drum.Filled containers, such as bottles 28, are fed to star wheel 26 by anendless conveyor 29 supported on a table 30 secured to frame 8.Preferably this conveyor comprises links adapted to engage sprocketwheels 31 and 32, the latter being driven by shaft 24 through a bevelgear connection 33. A discharge conveyor is provided at the dischargeside of the machine, and may be driven in any suitable manner.

Associated with conveyor 29 and star wheel 26 is a timing mechanismwhose purpose is to prevent clogging of the wheel and break age ofcontainers by permitting but one container to pass to the wheel at atime. This preferably comprises a gate 34 (Fig. 2) which is reciprocatedacross the conveyor by a pivoted follower arm 35 actuated by a cam 36carried by shaft 18, the cam being designed to withdraw the gate topermit one container to pass as each arm of the starwheel approaches thecontainer. The arms of the star wheel are adapted to engage thecontainers 28 which are held against the arms by a guide 37. As thecontainers carried. by star wheel 26approach the drum, caps or sealingdiscs are loosely applied on their mouths either manually or otherwise.

The drum and its associated parts and mechanism. which form an essentialpart of this invention, are illustrated particularly in Figs. 1 and 2.The drum comprises a cylinder provided with a plurality of peripherallyopen pockets 39 formed bv webs 38, and upper and lower plates 41. theWebs and plates being 'u'efcrably cast integrally with a central tubularshaft 40 surrounding fixed shaft 2 and attached to tubular rotarv shaft9. A casing encloses the rear portion of the drum to seal thecontainer-receiving pockets 39 when rotation of the drum brings theminto the casing. Although as far as concerns some features of theinvention. the easing may be an integral structure, to facilitate theformation and maintenance of a vacuum it is preferred to form the casingof seg ments. two of which, and 46, Fig. 2. being here shown. Thesegments are preferably exteriorly ribbed to strengthen them againstbreakage by stresses incident to the operation of the machine, and theirinterior surfaces accurately conform to the cylindrical periphcry of thedrum.

Each casing segment is mounted on frame 3 for movements radially of thedrum and for movements on vertical and horizontal axes to permit it toproperly conform to the drum. As shown in Fig. 6, casing segment 46 ismounted on a bracket 47 attached to frame 3 and provided at its upperend with a socket to receive a pin formed on the lower end of an arm 48.At the upper end of arm 48, a lug 58 is pivotally mounted on ahorizontal axis by a pin 59, and is provided with a pin which isreceived by a socket 61 formed on the exterior of segment 46. Throughthe pin and socket connection at the lower end of arm 48, segment 46 mayswing on a vertical axis; through the horizontal pivot pin 59 it mayswing on a horizontal axis; and on pin 60 it may move radiall of thedrum. Thus the segment is mounted for universal movements with relationto the drum.

At their adjacent vertical edges, segments 45 and 46 are connected toeach other in such a way as to permit limited relative movement and atthe same time form a continuous casing structure. Preferably, as shownin Fig. 7, a flexible sealing strip or gasket 57 extends between andseparates the adjacent edges of the segments forming a vertical hingebetween them. the rear faces of the segments being provided with lugs156 connected to each other by belts or equivalent members.

An important feature of the invention has to do With the provision ofmeans, for lllT1l nating Wear upon t ueri h v of the drum and theinterior surface of the casing. To this end, the upper and lower ends ofthe drum are preferably provided with hardened wearing rings 42 and 43which are engaged by rollers 49, one of which is mounted at each cornerof each casing segment. Provision is made for so adjusting, each rollerthat collectively they space the interior of the ing a slight distancefrom the vertical edges of pocket-forming webs 38 of the drum.Preferably, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. each roller 49 forms the outercage of a ball bearing attached to the upper end of an eccentricprojection of a pin 50 mounted between bushings carried in a splitbearing 51 which can be drawn together by a screw 51, thus providing foradjusting and holding pin 50 in any desired position. The rollers areadjustable to permit the casing and drum to run close enough together tomaintain the necessary high vacuum. without permitting actual contact atpoints other than where the rollers bear on the rifr'gs.

To create and maintain a high vacuum in the container-receiving pocketsformed by and between the drum and casing, casing segments 45 and 46 areprovided adjacent to their meeting edges with ports 52 connected bvflexible hose 54 to an exhaust line 53. While each container pocket maybe evacuated solely through these connections, it is preferred to createa partial vacuum in an entering container pocket by the more completevacuum previously created in-the pocket about to pass out of the'casing. 'To this end, a port 55 is provided in casing segment 45adjacent to its outer edge, and is connected by a conduit 56 to acorresponding port provided in segment 46. The arrangement here is suchas to effect the result just stated.

Before containers enter the drum pockets of the machineillustratedherein, caps are placed loosely on their months. When thecontainer-receiving pockets are evacuated. a vacuumis producedsimultaneously in the unfilled upper portions of the containers, and,

' when the evacuated containers are removed from the machine,atmospheric pressure holds the caps temporarily in sealing position. I

Centrally disposed in the top of each of the pockets 39 is areciprocable pressure block adapted to position the caps on the containers when they reach predetermined positions during rotation by thedrum,- one of the blocks being shown in Fig. 1, in its upper position.It comprises a roller 62 journalled 'on a horizontal pin in a head 63formed on a stem 64 which telescopes, in a plunger 65 provided on itslower end with a cap-engaging head 69, and intermediate of its ends witha shoulder 66. A spring 67 is arranged between head 63 and the upperside of shoulder 66, and another spring 68 is interposed between thebottom of shoulder 66 and top flange 41 of drum 1. Roller 62 follows anarcuate cam 70 secured to a spider 71 attached to the upper end of.

fixed shaft 2, the cam being provided with projections 72 and 73, asshown by the development View, Fig. 10. When a roller meets one of thecam projections-72, 73, head 63 is forced downwardly against theresistance of spring 67, and the pressure thus. created on shoulder 66is yieldingly transmitted through lunger 65 to bring head 69 against thetop of a cap on a container below it. When a roller passes beyond a camprojection. the plunger is raised above the cap by spring 68. The cam ispreferably so positioned as to actuate the plunger head just after apocket is scaled by entering the casing, and again just before thepocket leaves the casing.

Each of the pockets 39 is provided with a container ejector. which asshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 11, comprises a vertical rod .75 journalled inthe top and bottom plates 41, to the upper end of which is connected abell crank havingarms 76 and 77, and to the lower end a cker arm 78. Thearm 7 7 of the bell crank follows a cam 79 mounted on spider 71, and isurged thereagainst by a spring 80 connected to arm 76. The kicker arm isnormally positioned inwardly of the pocket and back of .a'

container; as the pocket leaves the casing, arm 77 enters a depression81 in cam 79, causing the rod to turn and move the kicker arm .78outwardly to force the container into engageme'nt with the passing armof star wheel 27 as shown in Fig. 2.

previously explained, and simultaneously the star wheels and conveyorsare actuated through their coordinated driving connections. Filledcontainers are supplied to conveyor 29 and carried by it to gate 34,which passes single containers at timed intervals to the approachingarms of star wheel 26; R0- tation of the star wheel advances thecontainers to drum 1 in the direction shown by the arrow on Fig. 2, andeither during this passage, or previously, caps or sealing discs areloosely applied to the mouths of the containers. \Vhen the machine isstarted vacuum is applied through pipe 53 to exhaust the pocketsindicated at C and D (Fig.2) through casing openings 52. As the degreeof evacuation increases, atmospheric pressure acts on the exterior ofeasing segments 45 and 46 to urge them toward the drum for sealing thesepockets. At the same time a container fed into pocket A is, uponrotation of the drum,

moved in the direction of the arrow to assume position B, and furtherrotation of the drum carries pocket .B entirely into the casing, therebysealing that pocket. Prior to this time, cam projection 72 actuates theplunger D is broken by passage of air from B toD,

thus making use of an evacuated pocket to accomplish primary evacuationof an entering pocket. 'lhe entering pocket then assumes successivelythe positions represented by C and D, where it' is subjected to directvacuum and highly evacuated.

Evacuation of the containers carried by the pockets may dislodge thecaps, and in this event the vacuum would be lost when the containeremerges from the casing. Therefore, just before the vacuum in'pocket Dis relieved, cam projection 7 3 actuates the plunger mechanism toposition the cap on the container mouth so that atmospheric pressurewill hold it in place during a subsequent seal attaching operation. Asthe pocket moves to position F, kicker arm 78 is actuated to push thecontainer-into a notch formed in the armof star wheel 27, the containerthen being carried by the star wheel to successive positions G anddischarged upon conveyer 35 leading to a machine which mechanicallyseals the caps upon theconta-iners In the operation of the machinecasing rollers 49 are adjusted to take up the thrust caused by thevacuum, and since they run on hardened steel rings there issubstantially no wear or friction. The distance between the drum andcasing may be varied by adjusting the eccentric mounting of the rollers.In any position short of actual contact between the face of the drum andthe casing the action is perfectly smooth, and no chattering,

-vibration or other disturbances are set up,

because the vacuum maintained by the drum is substantially constant. thevacuum of evacuated pockets is partially broken in the machine beforethey are discharged to the atmosphere. The drum and casing can bemaintained close enough together, but without actual contact of the faceof the drum and the casing, to insure a high vacuum in the pockets,through adjustment of the rollers.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes. I have explained theprinciple and mode of operation of my invention, and have illustratedand described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment.However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of theappended claims. the invention may be practiced by other forms ofconstruction than specifically described.

ll claim as my invention 1. In a'machine for vacuumizing containers, thecombination of a rotary drum element provided with a peripherally opencontainer-receiving pocket, and a casing element enclosing'a portion ofthe drum and forming avacuumizing chamber with the pocket thereof, oneof said elements being laterally movable with relation to the other, andone of said elements being provided with radially adjustable rollers atits upper and lower ends and the other with bearing rings in contactwith the rollers.

2. In a machine for vacuumizing containers. the combination of a rotarydrum provided with a peripherally open container-receiving pocket, and acasing enclosing a portion of the drum and forming a vacuumizing chamberwith the pocket thereof, the casing having bearing contact solely withthe top and bottom of the drum and being mounted for free movementsradially of the drum to automatically adjust itself to sealingengagement with the periphery of the drum.

3. In a machine for vacuumizing containers, the combination of a rotarydrum provided with aperipherally open containerreceiving pocket, and acasing enclosing a portion of the drum and forming a vacuumizing chamberwith the pocket thereof, the upper and lower ends of the drum beingprovided with bearing rings, and the casing being provided with rollersin contact with the rings and independently adjustable laterally of therings.

at. In a machine for vacuumizing containers, the combination of a rotarydrum provided. with a plurality of peripherally open container-receivingpockets, and a segmental casing enclosing a portion of the drum andforming vacuumizing chambers with the ockets thereof, the segments ofthe casing eing mounted for free movements radially of the drum toautomatically adjust itself to sealing engagement with the periphery ofthe drum.

5. In a machine for vacuumizin containers, the combination of a rotaryrum provided with a plurality of peripherally open container-receivingpockets, and a segmental casing enclosing a portion of the drum andforming vacuumizing chambers with the pockets thereof, the segments ofthe casing being mounted for universal movements to conform to theperiphery of the drum upon the creations of vacuums within saidchambers.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

JOHN E. SHARP.

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